198 



village school kept open during the winter months, and this he 

 left in his fifteenth year to help his father in the shop, resolving, 

 however, to set aside for the rest of his life an hour each day for 

 study. Mathematics first absorbed his attention, but a love for 

 the natural sciences was soon acquired and this was fostered by 

 collections of insects, shells, and other natural objects. 



He became a botanist through the advice of a noted New York 

 physician, whom he consulted regarding a severe case of dys- 

 pepsia with which he was afflicted. The physician frankly told 

 him that he could do nothing for him, but that he could do 

 everything for himself, and suggested that he devote an hour 

 each morning and an hour each afternoon to the observation and 

 study of plants in the field. Following this excellent advice, it 

 was not long before Frost was on the road to health, and also to 

 fame as a botanist. He purchased some botanical works and a 

 good microscope, acquired a knowledge of Latin, French, and 

 German, and devoted practically all of his leisure time henceforth 

 to the study of plants growing wild in the region of Brattleboro. 

 Excursions were often made in the early morning before the shop 

 was opened, and during the day and in the evening he was rarely 

 seen without an open book beside him. Half of the noon hour 

 was regularly spent in the attic with his plants, and most of his 

 microscopic work must have been done at that time. On rare 

 occasions, when Sprague or some other intimate botanical friend 

 paid him a visit of a day or two, the shop would be closed for 

 the entire period ; but it was by the faithful and constant use of 

 the leisure moments of a busy life that most of his knowledge 

 was acquired. 



Frost's botanical work was done between 1845 and 1875. 

 The published results of this work are very meager, consisting 

 chiefly of catalogues of cryptogamic plants occurring in New 

 England.* The first catalogue contained additions to the fungi 



* F"urther Enumeration of New England Fungi. Proc. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist. 

 12 : 77-81. 1869. 



Catalogue of Boleti of New England, with Descriptions of New Species. Bull. 

 Buffalo .Soc. Nat. Sci. 2 : 100-105. 1874. 



A Catalogue of Plants Growing Without Cultivation within Thirty miles of Am- 

 herst College. By E. Tuckerman and C. C. I'rost, 1875. 



